Meli's Switching Thread/Sherry

[Heather]

Name: Melanie
HF Forum Username: Meli

1. I' am not sure when i found out raw was the best, i didnt know when i had my first ferret (9 yrs old), i think i found out when i did my informative speech on ferrets about 2 years ago for school. (I got an A lol)

2. I figured when switching their diet I would keep a good kibble always available to my ferrerts and also incorporate raw store bought food, not whole prey.

3. I’ am interested in switching to a natural diet for my ferrets because I know it is much healthier for them. I would like to think it could enable them to live a longer happier, healthier life.

4. Yes, I do realize that switching their diets is a time consuming process that will take a lot of patience. I want the best for them. I have time to do it now especially with summer coming.

5. I have 2 male ferrets, my first born is 1 year old, and my new baby is 3 months old. I’ve had Monty, my 1 year old since 08/2012 and I got my baby Dusty 04/2013. The only “health problem” present is my 1 year old has a cyst in his throat, I took him to the vet and he says that it doenst “look bad” and that if it got bigger then we could do surgery.

6. I currently feed my ferrets what they were weened onto before i bought them which is (I know its horrible for them- again why I NEED to switch) Marshalls select chicken formula and ferretone.

7. I’ am currently attempting to switch now with doing a 1 to 4 ratio of Wysongs archetypal-1 and some grizzly salmon oil. Mostly just focusing on the archetypal-1, the baby is fine with it, i have to do a few droples of ferretone for my big one to eat, so far its going well.

8. I love all animals, always have, however i'am passoniate about ferrets and would kill for my babies! My oldest (since i've known him longer) is my happiness and make me happier than anyone could!

9.I always have access to my computer.

10.

Hi and welcome to the mentoring program. In a little while your mentor (Sherry) will introduce herself and you can get started on a new adventure in natural ferret care and diets. Please remember to post regularly (daily or as per arranged with your mentor) so that your mentor can assist you move along safely in this adventure. Also note there may have been some changes in the application and how you should post so please review these before proceeding. If you have any questions feel free to either ask your mentor or any of the admins. If you experience computer difficulties or are going to be away, please notify your mentor and most of all relax and have fun . Your mentor is here to help you on this journey.
ciao

[Sherry]

Hello there! I'm Sherrylynne, and I'll be your mentor for their switch
First, a little about me. I'm 54, and have my own housecleaning business here in Calgary Alberta. I have 4 cats, ranging in age from 11 yrs, to 19(only one would eat raw, unfortunately ). I also have 8 ferrets. Boris and Vincent(rip) came first, two brothers, a sable and albino. Then Sinnead(rip). I got her when she was 4. She passed at almost the age of 8, had adrenal for 3 years, treated with lupron for 2 of those.
After that came my first deaf ferret, Lucrezia. A marked DEW. Then two foster ferrets, whom we fell in love with and adopted- Zeus(DIP) and Athena(DIP), both two years old at that time. Both were adrenal, and on lupron until they passed from adrenal related lymphomas at the age of 5.
After that, a little abused ferret we called Willow. She was the worst fear biter I've had, although now she's become a sweetie . Then, Emily. 1 month younger than Willow, and those two have bonded strongly. She's the only one Willow wasn't terrified of.Suki is the last one, I swear! She was a little 8 month old darling the pet store was having a hard time selling, so were getting ready to send her back!
While transitioning the first four, Boris was my hold out. EVERYTHING I gave him was poison, in his mind . Worst little drama queen I've seen yet . Twisting to get away, gagging, retching- he did all of it! Then one day- he ate it! Every single piece on the plate ! Those four haven't looked back.
The next two for transitioning were the fosters. Until we adopted them, I could only supplement with raw. So in order not to cause unnecessary tummy upsets(mixing kibble and raw too closely can cause some problems- more about that later), I'd give them raw one day, and kibble on a different day. So, by the time we adopted, they had no problem with 100% raw diet.
With Willow, I brought her home, and she flatly refused to eat the totally ferret kibble, so I went back to the pet store and got her a small bag of the crap they were feeding them there, and brought it home. I tried to give her some, but she just upset the dish. So- I tried her with some chicken breast. She ate it up! Hasn't had kibble since . Emily came to us as a raw fed ferret, so no issues there. Suki was another kibble head, but caging her in the daytime with Miss Emily showed her how to eat raw. And now- we've added Mr. Frodo, who essentially switched himself second day he was here
That's me and mine in a nutshell

The reason I started looking a raw feeding was something my vet said to me. I was, at the time, giving them small pieces of fruit for treats. She told me that was VERY bad for them, and in fact, some studies have started to link early feeding of sugars with insulinoma later in life. So- I started thinking. Kibbles are full of carbs. It's all those grains/veg/fruits in them. Those are converted to sugars by the body. To me then, sugar= potential insulinoma.
So, I started checking out various diets. I had no idea what an obligate carnivore was at the time. I found out! Not much wonder there was soooo much poop in the box! I may as well have been tossing my money in there. They can't process anything that's not meat based! So I feed meat
Their fur is softer, their energy levels are amazing- no mad rushes then crashing. Even my three year old's teeth are amazing. No plaque whatsoever Healing is faster, and if they do get ill, they have more reserves to rely on than when they were just kibble fed!
And there is a LOT LESS POOP!!!! Yay!
I'm looking forward to helping your little ones get on a much healthier diet, and having fun while we're at it
We have now adopted 4 more ferrets from the local rescue, bringing our numbers back up to 10 again 7m old Cody as well as a bonded trio of 2yr old males, Judge, Indie, and Odin(also adrenal).
All are also now fully raw fed

[Sherry]

Hi there Okay- you say a "natural diet" is your preference. Are you referring to a whole prey diet? If so, are you interested in live feeding, or frozen/thawed strictly?
Or do you mean frankenprey(meat/bone/organ)?

[Deleted]

Hello! sorry i took so long to get back i JUST noticed this! sorry for my name change too, i was trying to mimic "Game of Thrones," (instead of mother of dragons im "monther of ferrets", lol a little lame i know.) I'll just turn my name back to Melanie (thats what you can call me, only my dad and brother call me Meli)

wow... that's a lot of ferrets! i was wondering about you and other administrators backgrounds so thank you for sharing! i assumed you were a breeder! How are the ferrets in Canada? (which btw i think its super cool i get to talk to people all around the world!) I read somewhere that in the US they aren't as healthy as in other places in the world ( due to there being a lack of breeders and 95% come from Marshall farms). I assumed that you (since your so knowledgeable about them)either breed your ferrets yourself or bought your ferrets from places other than Petco- this unfortunately i had to do since there are NO breeders or rescues near me, let alone in my STATE!


As far as i know, there arnt any local butchers in my areas (i have to find!) so i would prefer to switch them to meats i can buy in the super market. I don't think my ferrets could do the live feeding anyways lol, i put them with guinea pigs and they just sniff and walk away! And, even though its good for my ferrets, id still feel bad watching another animal get slaughtered

I have been switching their kibble, i thought wysong's archetypal -1 was the best since its mostly meat, but it turned out not being a kibble, its more like the consistancey of brown sugar, i just got the wysongs epigen 90 and im doing the 1-4 ratio of that... its going ok. is it ok to try to switch them raw evn if im still in the process of switching their kibble?

[Sherry]

I am so very sorry I owe you a profound apology for missing this! All I can plead is personal difficulties.
Okay, make up the soup that is listed in the mentoring program and we can go from there. Let me know when you are ready

[Sherry]

Updates?